Bruno Latour views science not as a pristine search for objective truth, but as a complex, dynamic process where facts are actively built and shaped by human activity. He fundamentally challenges the traditional view that scientific facts are merely discovered existing independently of human endeavor.
Latour's perspective on science is revolutionary, asserting that facts are constructed by communities of scientists through a collaborative and often contested process. He emphasizes that scientific knowledge is not revealed from a pre-existing, external reality, but rather emerges from the intricate work, negotiations, and interactions within scientific communities.
Key Tenets of Latour's View on Science
Central to Latour's understanding is the assertion that there is no distinction between the social and technical elements of science. This means that the social interactions, political maneuvering, funding structures, and human biases are not external factors that merely influence science; rather, they are inextricably interwoven with the technical aspects like experiments, instruments, data analysis, and theories. For Latour, the social is the technical, and vice versa.
He argues that to understand how science works, one must examine the "black boxes" of scientific facts and trace the networks of relationships that make them stable and believable.
Understanding Latour's Core Ideas:
| Aspect | Traditional View | Latour's View |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Facts | Discovered, objective truths | Constructed, outcomes of collective work |
| Social vs. Technical | Distinct realms, technical is primary | Indivisible, mutually constitutive |
| Science's Nature | Pure, detached inquiry | Complex, networked, and material practice |
Science as an Actor-Network
Latour's ideas are most famously articulated through his Actor-Network Theory (ANT), which provides a framework for understanding how scientific knowledge and technologies are assembled.
- Heterogeneous Networks: Science, according to Latour, is the product of heterogeneous networks comprising both human "actors" (scientists, funders, politicians) and non-human "actants" (laboratory instruments, data, specimens, theories, even specific bacteria or planets).
- Materiality of Knowledge: Scientific knowledge is not purely abstract; it is deeply material. Instruments, data visualizations, and laboratory procedures are as crucial as ideas and theories in the construction of facts. For instance, the "discovery" of a new particle in physics isn't just a conceptual leap; it requires massive particle accelerators, detectors, and complex data analysis software, all of which are part of the network that brings the particle into existence as a scientific fact.
- Process, Not Product: Latour shifts focus from science as a finished product (a collection of facts) to science as an ongoing, dynamic process of "fact-making." This process involves constant negotiation, translation, and stabilization of claims within a scientific community and beyond.
Implications for Understanding Science
Latour's perspective profoundly reshapes how we perceive scientific authority, progress, and controversies:
- Deconstructing Objectivity: He doesn't deny the effectiveness of science, but he questions the notion of a pristine, detached objectivity. Instead, objectivity is seen as an achievement, a result of stable, robust networks.
- Scientific Controversies: When scientific consensus breaks down, Latour would argue that it's not simply a matter of differing interpretations of data, but often a destabilization of the underlying human and non-human networks that supported the "facts."
- Science and Society: By dissolving the boundary between the social and technical, Latour highlights how scientific knowledge is always intertwined with societal values, power structures, and cultural contexts. This encourages a more nuanced understanding of science's role in public life and policy.
In essence, Latour reveals science as a profoundly human and situated activity, where what counts as a "fact" is the outcome of tireless effort, negotiation, and the intricate weaving together of diverse elements into powerful, yet always contingent, networks. More information on Latour's work can be found on resources like Wikipedia and discussions of Actor-Network Theory in philosophy of science.
